Convicted rapist Edward Dean pleads guilty in federal court

BINGHAMTON -- Convicted rapist Edward "Skip" Dean pleaded guilty in federal court in Binghamton Tuesday before a jury was selected in the second trial he was facing in the last two weeks.

The 50-year-old Dundee man was indicted by a federal grand jury in December for production of child pornography and transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity, but the federal case was on hold until local charges resulting from the same conduct were resolved. Police say he participated in a relationship with a 15-year-old Fenner girl for months in 2011, having sex with her repeatedly at motels in Pennsylvania, Madison and Onondaga counties and in her home.

Dean was convicted last Thursday by a Madison County jury of three counts each of third-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child. Those six charges could require him to spend up to 15 years in state prison.

With the local case settled, Assistant U.S. Attorney Miroslav Lovric quickly resumed the federal case in Binghamton, setting jury selection for Dean's trial for Tuesday. When Dean arrived in court for jury selection, he entered a guilty plea, which Lovric said effectively stopped that trial.

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The federal charges could carry heftier penalties than the local ones. The child pornography charge carries a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison. For the second charge, he could receive at least 10 years to life in prison. If he were ever released, he would have to serve at least five years of probation and pay a fine of up to $250,000 for each charge. Dean would also be required to register as a sex offender.

Lovric said it will be the determination of each judge in the case to decide whether or not his sentence should be served consecutively or concurrently with the other one. Lovric can make a recommendation for sentencing but he said it's "too early to tell."

Acknowledging the two cases are separate, Lovric said that even if the federal case had gone to trial, Dean's local conviction would not have been mentioned, unless Dean chose to testify.

Still, leg work to gather some of the evidence in the federal case was done by local police. The FBI was also heavily involved once it was learned Dean took the 15-year-old victim to Pennsylvania with the intentions of having sex.

Planning to call 15 witnesses to the stand, the prosecution would have presented evidence that Dean instructed the victim to photograph herself with her cell phone doing lewd acts. Dean forwarded those photos from his cell phone to his personal computer via email, which FBI agents found on his computer when they executed a federal search warrant at his house in December. One of the photos depicted Dean raping the child at her Fenner home on Sept. 18, an assault that was included in his local conviction.

He also shared the photos with at least one other person, a co-worker, in an attempt to "cheer" them up. When the victim's mother discovered their continuous contact through text messaging, she blocked Dean's number from the girl's cell phone. To counter that, he purchased a secret cell phone for the child, to continue communicating with her.

Dean is also charged with taking the victim to Pennsylvania at the end of September. While there they stayed at a hotel for three days, having sex multiple times a day. During the summer and fall Dean had similar encounters with the child, raping her in her home and at area hotels.

Dean even bragged to co-workers and family members, including his sister, about his relationship with the 15-year-old, divulging details about their sexual contact. He told his sister that he merely needed to buy the girl's mother a few packs of cigarettes in exchange for access to the child.

According to the case prepared by federal prosecutors, this was not the first time Dean has abused someone. He is also accused of sexually abusing and molesting a close family relative in the 1970s and 80s. Although charges were never filed, prosecutors say he abused her for seven years, including an incident where he and his then-girlfriend sexually abused her using a screwdriver that caused injuries requiring medical attention.

In 1999 he was convicted of third-degree assault after making sexual advances and fondling a teenage friend of his daughter in a tent in his backyard.

For his latest sexual misconduct, he is scheduled for sentencing in Madison County Court on Sept. 26 and in federal court in Binghamton on Dec. 6. He is being represented by federal Public Defender James Greenwald, who could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

Dean remains in the custody of U.S. Marshals but Lovric expects he will be returned to Madison County Jail soon to await sentencing.